I'm from Argentina, and I recently graduated in economics. Finance is my passion, and particularly I enjoy and have been introducing myself lately in the field of quantitative finance.

My aim is to become a quant, in the way it is described here in your page. I have several questions i wish to make to you:

1) What kind of masters program do you advice me to do? Here in my country, the postgraduate offers in finance do not suit the requirements of a quant

2) The mathematic knowledge i aquired is related to what economics use and demand: calculus, ordinary differential equations and dynamic optimization. What further subjects should i know? Could you recommend me some books?

3) I have been reading for a while several C++ books. I had limited programming knowledge before i started, but that hasn't impeded me from learning at least the basics. Should I incorporate other concepts of programming besides C++?

4) As regards to statistics, i have strong knowledge of time series econometrics (as well as cross-section), and i have learned other concepts that are fundamental to finance, like Markov chains. On what other issues should I deepen?

I have read other threads, and i know that a quant's profile suits better with physics or math students, but as i said before, becoming a quant is the main objective of my life, and I'm ready to make the necessary effort to become one.

Dear Mark,I am a graduate student pursuing a doctoral degree in theoretical physics from Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, U.K. I shall be finishing my doctoral study very soon and I am not sure if want to continue with academia anymore. An obvious alternative that appears is to try my luck with some finance/ consultancy job. But I am not sure with skills I have in hand where do I fit in ? I am reasonably comfortable with analytical calculations but equally bad with programming skills. Whereas for most of the "quant" jobs strong programming skills are a must.

Do you know if I can apply for some vacancies in finance/ consultancy which do not require more of programming skills but rely more on analytical capabilities ? If you can provide any useful site or contact details of a person worth contacting that will be great.